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Global Grid Storage Market To Reach $10.4 Billion In 2017

Lux Research have released a new report which states that grid storage demand will grow to $10.4 billion in 2017, and that “strategic valuable partnerships are key to success”.

The grid storage market has grown surprisingly fast, starting from a modest $200 million in 2012, making the $10.4 billion figure extraordinary. In order to address this fast-paced growth, Lux Research believe that “developers will need to find the best partners that can not only improve their capabilities but also enable access to new markets against a host of competitors.”

Over the next few years we will likely see small developers seeking out the support of large corporations, while the reverse will also be true, multinational conglomerates looking for the hype and innovation found in startups.

“A strong network replete with complementary technologies, material supplies, and avenues to customers can speed up a company’s progress and buffer it against some unpredictable market dynamics,” said Steve Minnihan, Lux Research Senior Analyst and a contributor to the report titled Finding the Perfect Partner in the Global Grid Storage Market.

“However, quantity is no indicator of quality in evaluating a developer’s partnership network, because not all partnerships are created equal.”

The report is based on analyses of 877 organisations and 949 strategic relationships that form the grid storage partnership. Their key findings are:

Partner or perish environment. In the tumultuous 18 months since September 2011, each of the six market-leading grid storage developers faced at least one major technical or financial issue, with several lower ranking companies seeking acquisitions or packing up and moving east to China. To hedge risks, developers are turning to strong corporate partnerships to stay in business. Having a strong partnership doesn’t guarantee success but averts destruction.

Networks support technology developers. Of the 877 companies Lux evaluated in the grid storage network, 718 are linked together in a mega-cluster, while 169 remain on the perimeter alone or in strings of isolated relationships. The vast majority – 725 – are not technology developers but financial, education or government organizations that can help developers build their technological prowess and sales channels.

Americas losing global share. The Americas account for 49% of the existing grid storage market but will lose ground to 26% by 2017, representing a $2.7 billion market. Europe, on the other hand, has a miniscule installed cumulative base of active grid storage projects – worth only $34 million and accounting for a mere 3% of the world’s installed capacity. However, its demand potential is expected to grow to $3.5 billion, representing 33% of the global demand potential by 2017.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the national trade association for the US solar energy industry, and the Electricity Storage Association (ESA), the international trade association promoting the commercialization and deployment of energy storage systems, today announced a new partnership to help grow solar energy markets and accelerate the deployment of grid-scale energy storage systems across the country, which will help modernize the electricity grid and make it more efficient, balanced and cost-effective.

Storing electricity at the bottom of the ocean? The idea may sound strange at first, but the new concept from the German engineer Rainer Schramm could be very effective — with an efficiency of around 80%, comparable to conventional energy storage systems.

About the Author

Joshua S Hill I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket!
I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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